


Just Pretend

by waterbird13



Series: Tumblr Fics [244]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: 10x05 tag, Gen, Pretending, Things have changed, brotherly moments, impala bonding scene, just in terms of some of his actions, slightly Dean negative
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-21 22:12:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8262203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterbird13/pseuds/waterbird13
Summary: There's a fake Impala, a fake sunset, and they're both there, nostalgic for something they lost.For one night, they can pretend.





	

* * *

The high school is dark, silent, and still, exceptionally eerie for anyone who doesn’t hunt ghosts as their day job. As it is, it’s just mildly unsettling for Dean.

Everyone has long since gone home, theatre-goers and actors and crew members alike leaving the school behind. But they left the props behind, and Dean has something he wants to see.

Dean creeps into the quiet theatre, looking for one specific set, thankfully still arranged on stage, apparently no one mustering up the energy after that stressful night to clear it. Only the peace, quiet, and embarrassingly private nostalgia Dean pictured is interrupted by the large man sitting on the fake Impala hood, and Dean is positive he’s not just a set piece.

“Sammy?”

Sam jumps nearly a mile into the air. “Shit, man, don’t sneak up on me,” he says, and even in the dim light, Dean can see the flush on his face. “What’re you doing here?”

Dean raises an eyebrow. “I could ask you the same thing.”

Sam shrugs, hesitating a moment, clearly formulating an answer, and he’s gotten better at it in the intervening years, since he’s sworn to Dean he has no idea who drew in crayon on the motel walls, but Dean can still see through it, somehow. “Just enjoying the peace.”

“Right. Nothing more peaceful than a creepy, empty school,” Dean agrees.

“Alright, then. What’re you doing here?” Sam challenges.

Dean shrugs. “None of your business.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

They stand like that for a moment, at an impasse, but clearly neither is leaving, and they can’t do what they came here for with the other still present.

Sam sighs. “I just…it’s a good set piece,” he mutters. “Reminds me of…well, you know.”

Dean nods. “Yeah,” he agrees. “Back in the day.”

“Before things got too messy to stop for a beer,” Sam says quietly, wistfully, looking out at the fake scenery. 

“Well, nothing says we can’t go back,” Dean says suddenly, injecting fake cheer into his voice, fingering the fake amulet, still shoved into his pocket as he says it.

Sam starts. “What?” he asks.

Dean shrugs. “Well, I don’t have beer. That’s not a real sunset. But we can…pretend?”

Sam looks at him like he’s lost his mind, but Sam is already leaning against the fake car, so Dean figures the only piece missing is himself. He moves over so he’s leaning against the hood as well, staring at the backdrop.

“Well. This is somethin’,” Dean says.

“Dean, what’re we…?” Sam asks.

“Shhh,” Dean encourages. “Just…pretend for a bit, okay? Just a bit.”

Pretend the world is like it once was, before there was so much distance between them, long before Sam actually looked scared of his brother. Definitely before the Mark of Cain, which is, uncharacteristcally and oddly, quiet that night.

Dean scoots closer. “Just pretend,” he reminds them both, voice small and quiet, barely carrying between the two of them.

Sam obviously hears it, and relaxes into Dean a bit, even scooting closer. He’s clearly pretending a bit too, but this pretending has limited the tenseness in his shoulders and probably and made Sam almost smile.

Back in the day, they had this all the time. Dean supposes he just never really knew how lucky he was, because this is really something special. Something to miss.


End file.
